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Venetian Carrot Cake

Recipe by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Kitchen

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According to Nigella, this modest disc is very different from the gargantuan US model with its rich sweet cream-cheese filling and topping, and is divine to eat. It also has the added virtue of being attractive to those with dairy and gluten allergies

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

For the carrot cake:

3 x 15ml tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 medium carrots (approx. 200–250g)
75g golden sultanas
60ml rum
150g caster sugar
125ml regular olive oil, plus some for greasing
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
250g ground almonds
½ teaspoon nutmeg
finely grated zest and juice ½ lemon

For the mascarpone cream (optional):

250g mascarpone
2 teaspoons icing sugar
2 x 15ml tablespoons rum
1 x 23cm springform or other round cake tin

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line the base of your cake tin with re-usable non-stick silicone liner (see p.14) or baking parchment and grease the sides with olive oil.
Toast the pine nuts by browning in a fatless pan; the oven alone is not enough to scorch out the paleness.
Grate the carrots in a processor (for ease) or with a coarse grater, then sit them on a double layer of kitchen roll and wrap them, to soak up excess liquid.
Put the golden sultanas in a small saucepan with the rum, bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for 3 minutes.
Whisk the sugar and oil – I use my freestanding mixer, but it wouldn’t be much of a faff by hand – until creamily and airily mixed.
Whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs and when well whisked, fold in the ground almonds, nutmeg, grated carrots, golden sultanas (with any rum that clings to them) and, finally, the lemon zest and juice.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very shallow in the tin.
Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts over the cake and put it into the oven for 30–40 minutes or until the top is risen and golden and a cake tester comes out sticky but more or less clean.
Remove from the oven and let the cake sit in its tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes before unspringing and leaving it on the rack to cool.
Remove the cake to a plate to serve; mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar and rum and put in a bowl to spoon alongside, for those who want.

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Notes & Tips

Make ahead note The cake can be baked up to 3 days ahead. Wrap tightly in clingfilm and store in airtight container in a cool place. Will keep for total of 5–6 days.
Freeze note The cake can be frozen (still on base of tin if easier), carefully wrapped in double layer of clingfilm and 1 layer of foil, for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight at room temperature.
Recipe from Nigella Kitchen by Nigella Lawson, published by Chatto & Windus, part of the Random House Group Ltd.
www.nigella.com

Recipe Rating

What do you think?

Tiny Dancer February 2011

This is a really easy & quick cake. It has a 'grown up' flavour to it.

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